As one Register columnist recently noted, as the government gets bigger, the citizen invariably gets smaller. And so it goes with the latest national scandals involving the National Security Agency's efforts to compile Americans' phone and Internet records, the Obama administration's alleged misuse of the Internal Revenue Service to target activist groups and the Justice Department's seizing the phone records of journalists.

The authorities in each case insist that there is no abuse, yet American citizens are right to feel that their rights, their citizenship, is getting smaller in the face of an increasingly muscular central government.

The big question: What can we do about it?

Unfortunately, the solutions aren't simple, even when those proposing them have the best-possible intentions. Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, recently introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 26. While nonbinding, it urges "Congress and the president of the United States to make the protection of civil liberties and national security equal priorities, to immediately discontinue any practices contrary to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and to instruct national security agencies to ensure that national security is achieved without invasive violations of civil liberties." The resolution specifically targets the NSA's controversial data-collection efforts.

We talked to Mr. Allen, and he told us the goal of the resolution is to spark discussion about civil-liberties issues and to remind Californians that the NSA's activities involve a serious breach of our individual rights.

We like alerting the public and fostering debate. However, even if the measure passes, Congress and President Obama aren't likely to look to the California Legislature for guidance on national security issues. And the resolution offers little specific guidance. It's typical of these "sense of the Legislature" resolutions are little more than symbolic.

While there's nothing wrong with reminding the public about the serious issues at stake, we harbor no illusions that many people in Washington will act on what the resolution states. Likewise, we wouldn't expect the president to base major policy decisions upon advice offered by any number of newspaper editorials. We are in favor of jump-starting the public discussion about civil liberties, and, to whatever degree this resolution does that, all of us are, at least, a little bit better off.

On a deeper note, California's ever-growing government continues to infringe on the public's liberties, as well. Recent legislation in Sacramento, for instance, would have made access to the state's open-records law even harder for journalists and the public. Public outcry, however, has forced the powers in Sacramento to backtrack on the effort.

Mr. Allen agreed that there are many threats to civil liberties coming from the state level and was optimistic that liberals and conservatives in Sacramento could come together to bolster the freedoms that Californians still enjoy. We're less optimistic on that score, and we would like to see more substantive legislation and fewer symbolic gestures.

Given the current situation, however, a little symbolism is better than nothing.

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